How to Be a Graffiti Artist

in this instructable il be covering everything from how to start, what you need and how to pratice graffiti. first im gona tell you some things about myself. iv been writing for about a year and a half now. my writers names started with flash, then atomic elixer and now risk (il explain what those are later). iv goten a couple of my friends into graffiti but not a whole lot and they sorta quit after a while. i do graffiti on is paper for now but i am talking with my local artwork group and trying to find a place to do some actual graffiti on a wall. curently i am drawing 3d styles and alot of throwups and tags. so without further ado.. lets get to the lessons. (knex pics at the end------------------------------------>)

these are some terms you may need to know that other graffiti artist use alot

Toy- this can have many definitions but they all are generaly the same. it can mean someone who is new to graffiti, someone who dosent fully understand the rules of graffiti,  someone who simply lacks style, someone who dose graffiti over someone elses graffiti

Dope- realy cool or awsome

Shit- stuff   comonly said "that shit is dope"

crew- a group of graffiti artists that are sort of like a family and try to keep eachother out of trouble. for instance, one person looks out for the popo while the other bombs

bombing- doing graffiti

tag- a quick 1 color graffiti with basic letters

throwup- a  bit more complex than a tag. mostly 2-3 colors. oftenly bubble or brick letters

peice- this is what you normaly think of when you think of graffiti. these are the complex colorfull big graffiti that realy show if your a toy or not.

graff- for anyone who is too lazy to say graffiti

blackbook- a sketchbook with graffiti in it

writers-graffiti artists

graffiti started from a writer who decided to write cornbread on a wall with paint and he liked doing it so he continued to do it all over the city. then many other people cought on. they would come up with nick names and write those in verry basic styles and put their street numbers after them like taki 182. they just did it to spread their names throughout the city and they wanted attention. then over time styles got more complex and biger, they eventualy turned into buble letters and brick letters. people then took over it as an art form and started all these crazy and creative works of art with lettering to them. now days there are people who do graffiti to spread their name and people who do it as a complete art form.
 

your not gona just pick up a spray can and start i can tell u that. first your gona want to start in a blackbook or on plain paper. then pratice like heck. look up new styles, try to copy others then develope your own, use some alphabets at first like on www.learngraffiti.net.
your going to need a name. i had flash, then atomic, and now elixer. your going to need something that fits you and you like cause your going to be writing it alot
heres a leter break down

a chalange to write is-b,f,g,j,l,q,t,u,v,x,y
some easyletters-a,h,k,p,r,s,w,z
can get realy crative with-o,i
need to know what your doing for it to look good-c,d,e,m,n

#1- youl want to start out with markers. anything you have around the house will work.

#2- paper or a sketchbook. you will be writing on this. make sure you have alot of it.

#3- once you get fairly good at drawing you will need some better markers. i sugest bic mark its because they are cheap and have alot of colors. iv gone through about 3 sets of these

#4- once you get realy good i recomend geting a set of prisma color markers or if you have alot of money geting a set of copits. i have prismas right now and they have lasted me about 9 months.

#5-once you get good enough and realy think your ready(iv been at it for about a year and im just getin ready for this one) go ahead and buy some paint. at this point if you research enough you can find the best paint. i think the best is belton molotow.

#6- your gona need some caps for those cans

#7- you may want ply wood to pratice on

the tag is a quick and small graffiti. you can use many different styles. theres ones that are simple and easy to read used mostly in city situations to just get your name out. tags can also be a complete artform if you get good enough at them. they can become verry complex and if you get enough of em on a paper in the right spots they can look awsome. iv filled up whole pages with tags for no reason except pratice. they can have drips, no drips, underlines, no underlines, quotations or not, a halo or not, a star or not, just get creative with it!

the throw up can also be an art unto itself. it is used mostly on the streets and trains just to get your name around. these can be buble letters or blocks. these are mostly done with spray paint. these are usualy 2 colors but can be as many as you want.

this realy shows how good you are. there are many different styles of these. there are infinent different things you can do here. so just go crazy with it. theres many different styles i have to show you just look at the pics and read the notes.

#1 dont graffiti on churches
#2 dont graffiti on schools
#3 dont graffiti on cars
#4 dont graffiti on private property only public or your own like canvas or your house if you want
#5 dont graffiti over anything thats a good peice or a famous writer like cope, dare, zap, can, seen or any other good graffiti artists.
#6 don write anything offensive that could hurt anyones feelings

try not to get in trouble cause you want to go graffiti something now. just do it on paper and youl learn if your good enough after about a couple months. then if your good enough you can get into it. get permits from your local government. look for artwork groups and talk to them and try to get things done. thats what i am curently trying to do now.
and now for some knex arsenal pics cause i realy dont feel like making a different slideshow for them.